Mad Max lived up to his monicker in the just completed MLB postseason. Max Scherzer closely approximated the three-time Cy Young winner he once was with some vintage performances. It was a nice bounce-back after a dreadful September in which he posted a 10.20 ERA and pitched himself right off the Toronto Blue Jays’ ALDS roster.
In Game 4 of the ALCS, however, Scherzer cemented himself in Blue Jays’ lore in a memorable confrontation with manager John Schneider. Mad Max exploded at his skipper, shouting and sending him back to the dugout, refusing to come out of the game.
Unfortunately, that will probably be one of the last memories Blue Jays fans have of Scherzer (along with his excellent World Series outing). MLB Insider Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the San Francisco Giants are his likely landing spot in free agency. In fact, he told TSN’s First Up that he’d be stunned if the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer doesn’t end up there. Scherzer is very tight with Giants new manager Tony Vitello.
At any time, he could say, ‘I want to go home and lock in with the family’… But after Game 7, he said, ‘Look, I can still do this’. And he demonstrated that with those three postseason starts, and he loves to play… Sometimes with guys in the free agent market, idiots like me will say, ‘well, that guy knew that guy way back on that team, and draw a connection’. And most of the time, that’s overstated. But in this case, I would be surprised if he’s anywhere BUT the Giants.
Free agent Max Scherzer is ‘really tight’ with Giants’ new manager
Olney said Vitello told him on his Baseball Tonight podcast last week that the manager conferred closely with his good pal Scherzer on whether to make the jump from coaching in college to take the Giants job. “Those guys vacation together… they hang out together, they’re very similar in personality. This is not some far off time from the past. They are really tight.”
The Giants are in need of two starters to fill out their rotation behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Landen Roupp. They will, as always, attempt to spend some big money in free agency to fortify their roster. They haven’t always gotten their man in recent seasons, but it sounds like Scherzer is a pretty good bet to land there.
Scherzer signed a one-year deal worth $15.5 million with the Blue Jays for 2025, and it’s looking like a one-and-done. Overall, he went 5-5 with the Jays in 17 starts with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He struck out 82 against 23 walks in 85 innings. In the playoffs, he posted a 3.77 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP.
For his career, he is 221-117 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He also has those three Cy Youngs and two World Series titles.
